The 1986 tax act is sort of the unsung hero of the very good economic times we had for a long time. Of course, politics gums it all up again and preferences get put in.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Simply looking at the status quo and suggesting that the tax code is sacrosanct and can never change, and that decisions made in the '80s and '90s can never change, is absurd.
Tax reform is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
Here's my thinking: Since tax reform only occurs once a generation, let's not tweak what we have and call it a day.
The income tax is a twentieth-century socialist experiment that has failed. Before the income tax was imposed on us just 80 years ago, government had no claim to our income. Only sales, excise, and tariff taxes were allowed.
Tax reform is taking the taxes off things that have been taxed in the past and putting taxes on things that haven't been taxed before.
Tax cuts are like sex: When they are good, they are very, very good. And when they are bad, they are still pretty good.
Tax should be the same for everybody.
Using taxes to punish the rich, in reality, punishes everyone because we are all interconnected. High taxes and excessive regulation and massive debt are not working.
Our tax policies, the tax relief and reform we passed in 2003 and 2005, helped get government out of the way of America's entrepreneurs, and our unemployment rate is now lower than it was in the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s.
If we don't act now, the death tax will come back in just a few years. Under current law the death tax is phased out in 2010 but comes back in full force in 2011. That is a ridiculous and untenable policy.
No opposing quotes found.